Exclusive: TRON Director Steve Lisberger Says He Just Spent 6 Weeks Remastering TRON for its Blu-ray Release! And He Made Some Changes

With TRON: Legacy set to invade theaters in just six short weeks, Walt Disney held Tron Night this evening at movie theaters around the globe. Clearly inspired by what Fox did with Avatar last year, tonight’s showcase featured around twenty three minutes from the sequel to Tron and after watching the footage tonight at Universal Citywalk in IMAX 3D, I think Disney has created something very special with the sequel to Tron. While I have no idea what the general public will think about this movie, there is no denying the visuals are amazing and I think it could be a big hit for the studio. As a lifelong fan of Tron, this is one of those films I never thought I’d see. I couldn’t be more excited for December 17th.

After the screening ended, I managed to get a few minutes with Tron director Steven Lisberger. As a kid who grew up loving the world of Tron, getting to spend a few minutes talking with Lisberger was a real thrill. But while the interview was cool, the best part was Lisberger telling me that he just spent six weeks remastering the original Tron for its eventual Blu-ray release!! He also told me that it looks “better than it’s ever looked before” and that he made a few changes. More after the jump:

Now before you go thinking that Lisberger pulled a George Lucas and made huge changes to Tron…you can relax. He told me that it’s a lot of subtle changes throughout the film. He went on to say that after remastering the movie, Tron feels closer to what he imagined it would feel like in terms of the color balance. He also says there is consistency that wasn’t there before and he got to play with the glow. Meaning, he tweaked things that couldn’t be done back in the early 80’s and I’m sure most of us won’t notice what he did. Again, he didn’t pull a Lucas.

Of course the next big question is when will the Tron Blu-ray get released? Lisberger says it’s up to Disney, but if I were a betting man, I’d say the studio will release Tron on Blu-ray at the same time TRON: Legacy gets released. But that’s just a guess.

And with that…here’s Tron director Steve Lisberger. You can watch exactly he said. If you’re interested in the Blu-ray and remastering Tron, start watching around 3:10.

:55 – How involved has he been in the post production of TRON: Legacy (he tells a great Star Wars analogy)

2:15 – Has he been to Flynn’s Arcade at Disneyland and what did he think about Disney creating Flynn’s again

3:10 – When will Tron be on Blu-ray? Says he just digitally remastered the movie and it looks “better than it’s ever looked before.”

4:10 – What exactly did he do when he remastered it? Says no big changes but a lot of subtle changes throughout. Says it feels closer to what he imagined it would feel like in terms of the color balance. Also says there is consistency that wasn’t there and he got to play with the glow!

5:00 – What might be coming on the Blu-ray? Are there a lot of cool surprises? He says there are very little deleted scenes and that he chickened out on the love scene

6:00 – What original designs from Tron made it into Tron: Legacy. He talks about the lightcycles.

6:55 – When will Tron on Blu-ray get released? He says it’s up to Disney

7:25 – He says the digital remaster of Tron was done very recently and it was six weeks to get it done